Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell in The Alternative Worlds

Mar 01, 2008 mark monday rated it it was amazing

Shelves: secret-histories, alpha-team, fog-and-gears

the hero of this novel, Mr. Norrell, is in many ways a stranger in a strange land, uncomfortable with base emotions and disappointed with the shabbiness and inadequacies of others... yet always yearning for true companionship. a dignified, erudite, and refined gentleman; quietly soulful and elegantly restrained; commanding in his encyclopedic knowledge of the magical arts.

the other character, a fey and unreliable sort apparently named "Jonathan Strange", offers fleeting friendship that is quick ...more

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Jul 15, 2008 Terry rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, historical-fiction, favorites

4 - 4.5 stars

Fantastic story. One of the few that actually lives up to the hype. Be warned though: this is a loooong book and it is true that, from one point of view at least, it can be said that not too much happens in it. The title tells us what the two main sections of the book will cover: the lives of the last two true magicians in an alternate 19th century Britain. They are the bookish, annoying and altogether full of himself Mr. Norrell and the flighty, brilliant and altogether full of him 4 - 4.5 stars

Fantastic story. One of the few that actually lives up to the hype. Be warned though: this is a loooong book and it is true that, from one point of view at least, it can be said that not too much happens in it. The title tells us what the two main sections of the book will cover: the lives of the last two true magicians in an alternate 19th century Britain. They are the bookish, annoying and altogether full of himself Mr. Norrell and the flighty, brilliant and altogether full of himself Jonathan Strange.

What follows is a fantasy book as written by Jane Austen by way of Neil Gaiman. Of course it's much more, and better, than that trite description implies. Mr. Norrell is a man who wants to 'own' magic. At the beginning of the story he is the sole active practitioner of the Art which has up to that point devolved into a purely academic pursuit. He has seemingly made it his life's work to hoard every available resource on the Art in England and force every other so-called Magician to abjure their claim to its practice if they cannot meet his challenge.

Jonathan Strange, on the other hand, is a young and carefree man of means flitting from interest to interest, unable to find any focus in his life. Until, that is, he discovers his unique talent for magic and ends up coming into direct contention with dour Mr. Norrell. The relationship that develops between these two characters is very interesting as Norrell, for his part, sees Strange as both his greatest adversary and, conversely, an apt pupil who is the only equal with whom the lonely old man can converse with any real pleasure or surprise. Strange finds Norrell infuriating and irritating in about equal measure, yet still seems drawn to the older man's knowledge.

In the background of the story of these two magicians and the rebirth of English Magic in general (and fueling its movement forward), are two figures of legend: the puckish Gentleman with thistledown hair (a fae inadvertently brought to the human world via some ill-advised early magic by Norrell) and the enigmatic Raven King (a human named John Uskglass, the once and future magical high-king of Britain, a human adopted into Faerie in the Middle Ages). These two figures loom large in the story, the former explicitly as he attempts to meddle with the human world for his own mischievous ends (as the fae are wont), the other much more subtly as his influence is more felt than seen behind the entirety of English magic.

The only great fault with the story is perhaps the fact that the two title characters, for all of their deeds and interactions, still sometimes seem to remain somewhat enigmatic cyphers in the background of their own stories. In many ways the secondary characters of John Childermass, Vinculus, and Stephen Black are more interesting than the protagonists. Despite this though, the story is well-told. It has a charming, archaic style that is thoroughly enjoyable which makes heavy use of academic footnotes, some of which are even more amusing and enlightening than the story on which they comment.

Overall a great story and very immersive book that I highly recommend.

Also posted at Shelf Inflicted ...more

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Jan 26, 2009 Jaylia3 rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 2016-re-read

I first read Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell in 2004 and loved its imaginative, immersive story so much it became a standard I judged other books by, but recently I wondered if, all these years later, it could still measure up to the high esteem I had for it in my mind. The answer is unreservedly, “Yes!” With Jane Austen-like characters and Austen-esque humor set in an epic alternate history of Regency England as it’s experiencing an exciting but unsettling re-emergence of magic, Strange/Norrell ...more

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Mar 25, 2008 Brad rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, unfinished, hopes-dashed-like-an-egg-on-cement, ugh

Boring, boring, boring. I won't read shit that I can't get into. I made it half way. That's enough. ...more

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Mar 06, 2009 Nicky rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, historical-fiction-alternatehistory

I like the realist Victorian novels. I like fantasy novels. I seem to like Neo-Victorianism based on my little experience with it. I was not sure I'd enjoy Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell -- particularly considering it isn't exactly a Neo-Victorian novel, perhaps: I read that it was intended to be a pastiche of Jane Austen. Try as I might, I don't really get on with Jane Austen, although I will give her the obligatory second go, etc, etc. In the end, though, I did like this book. I loved it, reall I like the realist Victorian novels. I like fantasy novels. I seem to like Neo-Victorianism based on my little experience with it. I was not sure I'd enjoy Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell -- particularly considering it isn't exactly a Neo-Victorian novel, perhaps: I read that it was intended to be a pastiche of Jane Austen. Try as I might, I don't really get on with Jane Austen, although I will give her the obligatory second go, etc, etc. In the end, though, I did like this book. I loved it, really. I've read a lot of other reviews of it and I can see what people mean when they complain of the length, the lack of editing, the dry tone, the long and numerous footnotes... all that, for me, was part of the novel and very necessary to it, but I can understand why that made it somewhat inaccessible. Particularly as it seems to have been marketed or hyped as the "adult Harry Potter". That, it isn't. I'm reasonably used to reading the kind of dense, descriptive prose that this imitates, which obviously helped, and I became fascinated with the whole world it lays out, including the alternate history and the various interweaving of fact and mythology.

The plot itself admittedly takes a while to get off the ground. However, details from early in the novel do become very important, and the set up is entirely necessary, to my mind. I don't think there's anything meaningless in the story that could or should have been edited out. It could have been a much slicker, more accessible read -- it could, indeed, have been "Harry Potter for adults"! It was something more than that, though, I think, and something more unique. If you can't buy into that and get invested in the story/characters by the time Jonathan Strange is learning magic, than I think perhaps it's not the book for you -- but it does require giving it a chance. Once the plot took shape, I was riveted. It wasn't so much so that I "couldn't" put the book down, but I certainly didn't want to.

Character-wise, it took me a while (again) to get into it and to start liking them. Mr Norrell isn't the most likeable character anyway, but I did end up feeling quite affectionate about him. He's certainly a vivid character, in that you feel like you get to know him. Jonathan Strange is more likeable, although he still has his flaws. Ultimately I probably liked Strange the most of all the characters, since he has good lines and would probably be quite fun to talk to (if he wasn't mad or working at the time). Norrell certainly wouldn't be. I also enjoyed that neither magician was really more "right" than the other. A good touch! Childermass was another interesting character, even from early in the novel, and I wanted to kick Norrell sometimes for his treatment of him. I could have wished for more female characters taking an active part in all of it, but I did like Arabella.

As a whole, evidently, I found the book absorbing and worth the time I put into it -- despite all I've said about the dryness and difficulty, etc, I pretty much ate it up. If it sounds appealing to you, give it a try, but be prepared to give it a chance and also for not feeling like it's the sort of story you can get into. It is not the adult Harry Potter -- I'm not sure what I could compare it to, but it's decidedly not that.

Did someone say there may be a sequel in the works? ...more

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Aug 18, 2007 Jackie "the Librarian" rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: adultfiction, fantasy

Wow, I loved this book! Rival magicians, fairies, and romance in a setting worthy of Georgette Heyer. It was a bit slow to get into, but once Mr. Norrell magically brought the statues to life in the cathedral, I was hooked. I loved the idea that George III was affected by magical forces to be crazy! I didn't even mind all the stuff about the Napoleonic War, because I liked Jonathan Strange, and respected his using his magic to fight for his country.
This is was what The Historian (a noble, but f ...more

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Jun 27, 2007 Wealhtheow rated it it was amazing

Shelves: mannerpunk, fantasy, regency

This book begins very dry and builds tension very, very slowly, but the increasing excitement mirrors the growth of magic in England. I loved the slow progression of the plot, I loved Clarke's pointed wit, and I loved the characters. ...more

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May 12, 2011 Suz rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, award-winner, non-men-sff-authors, kindle, 2013-women-genre-writers-challenge, world-fantasy-challenge

O. M. Gawd, I didn't think I'd ever finish this book.

I have two reading challenges I'm trying to complete this year:
1. To read all of the World Fantasy novel winners
2. To finish 12 books by new-to-me women genre authors.

This book fit both challenges, which is the only reason why I bothered finishing it (I started it in September).

I know where this book was going - to be a detailed, period piece with all of the societal foibles and all that jazz. And to some extent it worked. There were interest ...more

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Mar 11, 2013 Camille rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: sci-fi-fantasy, women-of-genre-fiction-2013

It was a slow start but it was really fun towards the end.

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Aug 29, 2008 Tatjana rated it really liked it

Shelves: fiction-fantasy, fiction-speculative

I really enjoyed this book. It was detailed and gorgeously lyrical in style. I saw the movie in my head as I read. It's very English, and I enjoyed that about it. ...more

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Jun 12, 2007 Brooke rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy

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Nov 27, 2007 Sarah marked it as to-read-already-own

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Dec 10, 2007 Thermopyle rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fantasy, historical-fiction

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Jan 25, 2008 This Is Not The Michael You're Looking For rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy, fiction, hugo-award, alternate-history, faeries, locus-award, world-fantasy-award, low-fantasy

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Apr 16, 2008 Sandi rated it really liked it

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Shelves: fantasy, hugo-award-novels-since-2000, portugal

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May 11, 2008 Lori rated it really liked it · review of another edition

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May 26, 2008 Lee marked it as to-read

Shelves: fantasy

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Jul 08, 2008 Terence rated it did not like it

Shelves: speculative-fiction

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Aug 21, 2008 Joan rated it it was amazing

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Sep 03, 2008 Carolyn marked it as browse-to-read-someday

Shelves: thriller, historical-fiction, wwe-taw-book-ideas

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Nov 30, 2008 Jaimie rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: faerie

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Feb 20, 2009 Bruce rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy, literary-fiction

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Jul 16, 2009 Danielle The Book Huntress marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Shelves: faerie, epistolary-narrative, set-in-uk, fantasy, audiobook, metafiction, kindle-book, started-but-put-down, library-checkout, historical-fiction

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